News from Wez and the Islands
With the School holidays well underway it has been a busy time on the islands. During the last week of term I led the Five Island Academy's Year 7's and 8's on an adventure to swim the channel! (The Tresco Channel) This is a Biannual event saw over thirty 11-13 year olds face the challenge of a 500m open water swim from Tresco to Bryher. The tide was stronger than predicted but the students dug in and showed real grit and determination. It is so good to give our young islanders oportunities to shine.
The Swimrun video's from St Agnes and the Northern Traverse/Archipelago are now available to view on our youtube channel. (If you can click subscribe it does help us out) Link below.
The big event of the Summer so far was the Tide Race. A slightly different course from 2 years ago. In the three weeks before the event we over doubled our numbers. On Race day we had 135 runners doing the 10k course and 93 for the family 2k fun run.
Amazing efforts by all. This unique event doesn't create PB's but it does bring big smiles, especially after the event when you get your water taxi back over the top of the race course!
A special shout out to our local island young people who are part of TrailFam Scilly. (More info next issue) we had 18 runners take part in the 10k, with 7 finishing in under 1 hour!
To view the result please visit https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=443594
However the fun doesn't stop there!
In under a week the St Mary's Swimrun will be upon us. The St Mary's Swimrun course is brilliant, a complete circumnavigation of the largest island. Followed the evening after by a full moon swim. Two great events if you are on the islands with over 70 people participating already.
Then just a week later we'll be welcoming nearly 250 runners to take part in the first September edition of the Scilly60% and Scilly60.
Just 4 weeks after this the season finishes with the brilliant 555. If you are looking for a weeks running holiday on Scilly then this is the event for you. Each day we visit a different island where you can choose to run or walk a single circumnavigation, a half marathon or a full marathon on each island. (you can even change distances each day) This week is great for new runners, seasoned athletes, walkers and anyone inbetween. It truly is a week to really take in the whole of Scilly whilst maintaining the buzz and excitment expected from all Scilly60 Events.
There are a few places available in all of the above events, if you fancy it!
I found out recently, I was nominated for, and made the top 4 finalists for The Cornwall Make A Difference 2026 - Active Award. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy06d484z6po
This came as a complete shock, and I feel very proud that people in the community really feel that Scilly60 Events is really making a difference within the community. Thank you I really am speechless.
Apart from organising events, the summer has been spent enjoying this beautiful weather and having a go at a project of mine.
As many of you know I always trial every event before hosting it. This way I can answer any questions with real honesty and give real advice rather than saying its hard! Last week I managed to complete a self propelled Scilly60 within the timelimits with the added tests of swimming or kayaking between each stage. This self proppelled project was a great day out of just over 12 hours, with 60km of running, 9k of Kayaking and 5k of Swimming. However, logistically, this is a very tricky challenge, I have many more challenges to work out if this could be an event or a bespoke adventure possibility. However the ball has started moving so watch this space to see where it ends up!
